Most black metal is fake

I think that throughout the course of history, there have always been very few bands that have been able to live up to my standards, at least of black metal… Then there are thousands and thousands of misrepresentations and misconceptions of it. But true and genuine black metal is always something that will always be a minority in the music scene. A small minority even. Then there's all these people that kind of want to… It's just like punk, you know? You have a few real punk bands, and you have a thousand bands that try to do the same thing, but fail because they don't have the right spirit and they don't really believe in it. But at the same time, it fascinates a lot of people, because it is an extreme way of expression, and it is controversial, and it's therefore also popular and people are fascinated by it. That's why it's also so often, like with other forms of extreme art, whatever it may be, that's why it's also so often misused, and just even commercialised, just for the sake of that, horror sells. And extreme metal sells, controversy sells, and that's why there's so many charlatans in this kind of music.

Apparently this guy has some kind of melodic heavy metal band and they're relatively well known, but I've never heard them. I think he makes a good point though. Most black metal is ersatz at best or a forgery at worst.

You could call this ironic, but it isnt ironic as much as it is pathetic. This man must be fully aware that he might as well be describing Watain. The only reason he could have expressed this view then is to look cool for an interview, knowing that his fans and well, most Blabbermouth readers, would not make the connection except in a positive way. What may seem like chutzpah to us is a calculatedly superficial move.

Same can be said for any number of genres. Let's play a game. Randomly pick a letter, search itunes or whatever gay shit, then randomly preview one of the results. What are the odds of finding something that isn't complete trash?

1.) Xzibit - restless : Generic beats; stupid lyrics even for hiphop.2.) iamwhoiam - N: Unremarkable, but better than the previous.3.) whocares - D: Porno background music. At least its utilitarian, i guess.4.) woeisme - I: I'm too illiterate to properly describe how bad this screamo is.5.) Nuclear Assault-F#: nice random pick but i never liked this song.6.) C,R and Promid - Electro Queen: electronic music made using all the presets that came with the software.7.) Ani DiFranco - J: call center music for when you've been put on hold.8.) B - Birdz n Beez: African-American with downs syndrome.9.) Ivan sandomire - L: 1950s love song mixed with carnival music. somehow less offensive than the other material so far.10.) E - Fitting in with the misfits: feel good christian music for attracting losers to your doomsday cult.

Will someone bash my head in until i forget the last 15 minutes? I think i had a point to make somewhere but i'll be damned if i can find it. Whatever.

Unsurprisingly, most music is bullshit. Also, there always seems to be this underlying sentiment that the author is embarrassed with himself for being peripherally associated with something as nerdy and ridiculous as blackmetal (as its publicly perceived), and feels the need to justify it to himself. Oh no, i listen to the real stuff, you see, because they don't make hilariously absurd photoshoots and, oh wait...

Also, look at that high-fiving circle jerk in the comments below the article haha.

Apparently this guy has some kind of melodic heavy metal band and they're relatively well known, but I've never heard them.

Melodic heavy metal-turned black metal like Dissection, of course, they just don't do it well. Similar to Deathspell Omega, Watain decided that the ideological ends of black metal were in showmanship and ego - taking themselves way too seriously - making their statement in pictures and press releases rather than building it into their music. Watain's music is mediocre and derivative, but their shtick draws likeness to Dissection to an undiscerning listener, and with their frontman being the live bassist for Dissection for a couple shows, that's all the connection needed to paint a second-rate knockoff as the successor to something that is dead.

He makes a very common point about discerning taste in black metal, and many people see it from different angles. However, his angle is pretty much like Christian rock where the only thing that matters is pasting the right icons and namedropping the right fellow in your music with a matching aesthetic. It's like Cannibal Corpse making casually listenable music while their primary attraction is their fashion sense.

Apparently this guy has some kind of melodic heavy metal band and they're relatively well known, but I've never heard them.

Melodic heavy metal-turned black metal like Dissection, of course, they just don't do it well. Similar to Deathspell Omega, Watain decided that the ideological ends of black metal were in showmanship and ego - taking themselves way too seriously - making their statement in pictures and press releases rather than building it into their music. Watain's music is mediocre and derivative, but their shtick draws likeness to Dissection to an undiscerning listener, and with their frontman being the live bassist for Dissection for a couple shows, that's all the connection needed to paint a second-rate knockoff as the successor to something that is dead.

He makes a very common point about discerning taste in black metal, and many people see it from different angles. However, his angle is pretty much like Christian rock where the only thing that matters is pasting the right icons and namedropping the right fellow in your music with a matching aesthetic. It's like Cannibal Corpse making casually listenable music while their primary attraction is their fashion sense.

I am actually inclined to defend Deathspell Omega and their music, at the cost of much beration and anathematization.

In what sense does DSO (not to be confused with the Dublin Symphony Orchestra) put showmanship and ego before their composition or message? I could be wrong, but last time I had checked, the members of DSO remain anonymous and unwilling to even perform live. Also, if you look at the graphics used on their albums and CDs, you probably won't find much beyond a skull or four, nary a pentagram, so I'm not sure if you are saying that they rely on iconography to convey their message or if that accusation was directed specifically at Watain. Either way, I'm cool, would just like to know why DSO deserves to be dragged into your verbal meat grinder.

If your issue is with their inclusion of "Theistic Satanism", then we can just drop the discussion and I won't press the point further.

It's about the orthodox/theistic satanism crap, especially the prayers on an album. The whole ritual/prayer thing is a stupid gimmick and their music is tech-death/mathcore twisted into black metal. I find the music aggressively boring.

It's about the orthodox/theistic satanism crap, especially the prayers on an album. The whole ritual/prayer thing is a stupid gimmick and their music is tech-death/mathcore twisted into black metal. I find the music aggressively boring.

I hear you. I can't disagree except in opinion. The music is very engaging to me.

Actually, I think DSO calling themselves black metal is a disservice to themselves. Then again, there are those people who think that black metal is just music about Satan, in which case DSO would be taking the genre to its logical extreme. But if we define black metal by technique and purpose, DSO is some mutation of metalcore.

My gripe with DSO is strictly that they are boring. Their music contains no emotional content. I mean that in the sense that they don't invoke existential weight or a feeling of confrontation with a greater force then your own being, for example.

I understand to the extent that I comprehend why you have arrived at that viewpoint. At the same time, my personal experience screams disagreement.

The only DSO album that I own and really get anything from is "Paracletus". The vocals, guitar melody, and drumming very much move me and put my mindstate in such a position that I see traditional values like friendship and happiness in a different (more diffused, less coherent) light. Therefore it is effective music, to that extent.

Wasnt aimed at you man, I just liked his particular phrasing. I have to say though, not looking forward to a future where you mount a one-man personal defense of every band this board loudly hates (kidding, kidding). But yeah, like what you like. I care about the good stuff not getting the attention and appreciation it deserves, as long as that is clear its all good. If you want to rile me up dont say I like DSO, say I hate Burzum/Aske.

It's about the orthodox/theistic satanism crap, especially the prayers on an album. The whole ritual/prayer thing is a stupid gimmick and their music is tech-death/mathcore twisted into black metal. I find the music aggressively boring.

I hear you. I can't disagree except in opinion. The music is very engaging to me.

Actually, I think DSO calling themselves black metal is a disservice to themselves. Then again, there are those people who think that black metal is just music about Satan, in which case DSO would be taking the genre to its logical extreme. But if we define black metal by technique and purpose, DSO is some mutation of metalcore.

Is it a logical extreme? Black metal has never really been about theistic Satanism, but Satanism was invoked as a concept that laymen could understand. It quickly became a casual stay of laymen in black metal, but it was essentially a conceptual gateway, an appeal to the layman's understanding of it, not an orthodox, theistic, or literal religion. The logical path was to abandon this as its meaning was distorted and lost. It's a farce, no more than an aesthetic or fashion statement. For fucks sake, the year before DSO decided to really pick up the "Orthodox Satanism" nonsense, Anthrax had an album cover of them with pentacles on their chests. Satanism was a farce that became an even more trivial gimmick and joke, and these clowns took the joke too seriously.

Satanism is mythology, not ideology. Imprecation's latest album invokes it properly.